Lani Reeder’s students were working on an entrepreneurial lesson about marketplaces in ancient Rome when they had a bolt of inspiration. “The kids started asking questions: Do we still do this today, in modern times? Why can’t we make our own marketplace with our own goods and have our own system?” says Reeder, a Verizon Innovative Learning Schools Coach and Lab Mentor at Long International Middle School in St. Louis, Missouri. She said yes and watched them run with it. Working inside the school’s Verizon Innovative Learning Lab, the students wrote business plans, prototyped products, and created branding — using emerging technology as their toolkit. Reeder sourced the original lesson plan on Verizon Innovative Learning HQ, which is “a hub of lessons and projects that you can choose from,” she explains. Projects like these strengthen multiple skill sets at once — not just tech literacy but collaboration, problem-solving, communication and motivation — all of which contribute to students’ future endeavors and show them what they need “to be successful and college ready,” Reeder explains. Verizon Innovative Learning is a key part of the company’s responsible business plan to help move the world forward for all. As part of the plan, Verizon has an ambitious goal of providing 10 million youth with digital skills training by 2030. Educators can access free lessons, professional development, and immersive learning experiences to help bring new ways of learning into the classroom by visiting Verizon Innovative Learning HQ. #VerizonInnovativeLearning #CitizenVerizon #Education #STEM #Technology

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